Hailed as one of the nation’s premier wildlife artists, the path Montana-based painter Daniel Smith traveled in reaching this position of renown has been one of dedication and evolution. Born in Mankato, Minnesota, in 1954, he says he was genetically infused with a love of art and nature thanks to his father, an inveterate outdoorsman, who used his own wood-burning skills to give visual testimony to his inherent love for wildlife. He goes a step further, saying that same gene seems to have been passed on to his son, Adam. “After dabbling with art a bit in high school, at
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Last November when Daniel Smith was roughing it at the Tundra Buggy Hotel at Cape Churchill, Canada, he was just doing what comes naturally to a wildlife artist —research. Some of his companions on the Arctic excursion were professional polar bear researchers, so Smith had the benefit of scientific knowledge as he observed the bears up close and personal. Having traveled to Africa seven times, as well as journeying to Alaska on several occasions, Smith knows there is no substitute for those in-person treks to keep him fresh in his painting. He’s already scheming to get to Svalbard, Norway to
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